Multiple-speed transmission apparatus



E. J. ISBISTER MULTIPLE SPEED TRANSMISSION APPARATUS May 15, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 4, v194'? May 15, 1951 E. .1. lsBlsTER 2,552,556

MULTIPLE SPEED TRANSMISSION APPARATUS ,n Filed Feb.v 4,` 1947 2 sheets-sheet 2 M50/UM PIL/,05E SHN-75e,

TTOR/VEY Patented May 15, 1951 MULTIPLE-SPEED TRANSMISSION APPARATUS Eric J. Isbister, Garden City, N. Y., assignor to The Sperry Corporation, a corporation of Dela- Waffe YOriginal application April 24, 1945, Serial No.

590,088. Divided and this application February 4, 1947, Serial No. 726,363 l 6 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to multiple-speed transmission apparatus, and more particularly to revolution counting apparatus responsive to two independent driving members. The present application is a division of my application Serial No. 590,088, filed April 24, 1945, and issued as Patent No. 2,484,034, on October 11, 1949.

Revolution counters have long been known consisting of a train of intermittent gears actuated by a single driving member and having several numbering elements, such as drums, each provided with a series of numerals. The numbering elements are coupled together in a certain transmission ratio to select for exhibition one numeral from those on each drum, and the selected numerals constitute a figure which is proportional to the number of revolutions performed by the driving member. The figure thus assembled may be easily read without any skill or interpolation.

These counters have been incorporated in apparatus Vfor indicating the position of a driven member actuated gradually by a driving member, for example, through speed reduction gearing. The counter is made responsive to the driving member rather than to the driven member in order to improve the accuracy of the positional indication by a factor equal to the speed ratio of the driving and driven members. It is often desirable, however, to position abruptly or slew the driven member independently of the driving member while still permitting the counter to register correctly the resultant position of the driven member.`

Itis, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide means for abruptly positioning or slewing a driven member independently of a normal driving member while permitting a counter mechanism to maintain synchronism withV the driven member and to register a iigure representative of its resultant position.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel gradual speed transmission and revolution counting apparatus having means for gradually positioning a driven member from a driving member, a slewing member for abruptly positioning the driven member independently of the driving member .together with revolution counter means having one scale actuated in response to the driving member and a second scale adapted to be operated in response to operation of said slewing member.

vGenerally speaking, the invention contemplates providing connective means for actuating a driven member, such as the shaft of a phase shifter, by two independent driving members, which are referred to throughout the specification as a ne or precise control and a coarse or' slewing control. The connective means takes the form of a clutching mechanism or diierential gear unit. A counter of the type described above is made responsive to the fine control for composing a figure representative of the position of the driven member. Another connective means is included in the coupling between two adjacent numbering elements of the counter, for example, between the hundreds and thousands drums. This latter connective means not only permits the numbering element representing the lower decimal place to drive intermittently the element representing the next higher decimal place but also allows the coarse control to change the numeral selected for exhibition by the greatervalued numbering element, e. g. the thousands drum, in accordance with an equivalent change eiected by the coarse control in the position of the driven member.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the specic embodiments illustrated in the drawings and in the following description thereof.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of timing apparatus employing a counter type of time delay indicator and arranged in accordance with the invention to permit slewing or abrupt changes in the timed interval;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along broken line 2-2 of a detail of the counter shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an alternative form of slewing mechanism.

Similar reference numerals are employed to indicate corresponding parts in the above figures.

Referring now to Fig. 1 the invention is illustrated in combination with known timing apparatus wherein a source II of stable frequency provides 'sinusoidal waves which are utilized as the basis for precise interval measurements in the manner now to be described. The waves from source II are supplied to a frequency divider I2 which is adapted to reduce the frequency of the applied waves by a factor M and to provide sinusoidal signals at a subharmonic of the frequency generated by source I I to a further frequency divider I3. Divider I3 is generally similar to device I2, and is designed to lower the frequency of the incoming waves by a factor N. The output waves from divider I3 are supplied to a square wave generator I 4 whose function consists of forming substantially rectangular waves accurately synchronized at one half the frequency of the applied signals.

The output of generator I4 is. connected. to a reference pulse selector I5. The selector I5' comprises a trigger circuit such as a multivibrator which is adapted to alter its quiescent condition or be turned on by the leading edge of the low frequency wave from generator I4. The selectorv I5 is returned to its initial quiescent condition or turned off by the next cycle of the waves issuing from source I I. This is accomplished by the provision of a pulse generator I6 which has its input supplied from source II' and its outputy applied to the reference pulse selector I5'. A pedestal wave whose commencement and conclusion are determined by circuits I4 and I'6, respectively, appears on output lead 52 of selector I 5. The recurrence rate of this pedestal wave is low and yet its) rear edge is precisely defined; consequently, it is well adapted to serve as a low frequency time reference signal.

The pulse generator i6 may comprise distorting amplifiers which clip the tops of the. waves from source II and form square waves which may then be differentiated to produce pulses suitable for triggering selector I5. Pulse generator I6, on the other hand, may comprise the well-known saturable transformer` type of pulse forming circuit.

A pulse whose trailing edge is delayed a precise interval with respect to the termination of the time. reference signal on lead 52 is obtained in the following manner: Fine, medium, and coarse continuously adjustable linear phase shifters I1, I8 and I9, respectively, are supplied with sinusoidal waves of harmonically related frequencies over leads 2|, 22 and 23, respectively, from source II, divider l2 and divider I3, respectively. These phase Shifters are geared together in accordance with thev frequencies of the waves transmitted thereby. A iine control knob 24 is attached to a. hollow shaft 25 on which are fixed gears 26, 21 and 28. Gear 28 meshes with a gear 29 mounted on. a shaft 3I adapted to actuate phase shifter I1'. Gear 21 is coupled through speed reduction gearing 32, 33 and 34 to drive a shaft 35 associated with medium phase shifter I8.` A gear 36 is fixed to shaft 35 and meshes with gear 31 connected to a shaft 38. Shaft 38 forms one input to a differential gear unit 39 whose output shaft 4I serves to control the coarse phase shifter I9.

It is seen that phase Shifters I1, I8 and I9 are interconnected by gearing in such manner that rotation of the knob 24 produces progressively reduced rotation of the ne, medium and coarse phase Shifters with the result that the harmonically related series of waves supplied over leads 2|,v 22 and 23 are. subjected to substantially the same time delay, although the phase shift of the highest` frequency waves is generally manyy times 360, while thev shift of the lowest frequency waves is a fraction of a period.

The phase shifted outputsv of devices I1, I8 and I9 are applied to similar pulse generators 42, 43 and 44, respectively, corresponding to pulse generator I6. Pulse generators 42, 43 and 44 supply triggering signals to iinal, second, and first selectors 45, 46 and 41, respectively. These selector circuits may be generally similar to reference pulse selector I5.y First selector 41 is adapted to be turned on by the trailing edge of the square wave supplied by generator I4 over a lead 48 and turned oif by the next signal from pulse generator 44. The pulse or pedestal wave formed by the operation of the rst selector 41 is fed by a lead 49 to the second selector 46 where its trailing edge triggers on this latter circuit. The iirst ensuing pulse from generator 43 returns selector 46 to its normal quiescent condition, and determines the ending of the pedestal Wave formed by the second selector. This pedestal wave is supplied through a lead 5I to the final selector 45 where its cessation initiates another pedestal terminated by the next succeeding pulse issuing from generator 42.

The end of the pedestal generated by final selector 45 and appearing on output lead 53 is thus delayed a precise and unambiguous time interval with respect toA the corresponding portion of the pedestal created by reference pulse selector I5 and appearing on output lead 52. This interval is proportional to the total number of degrees 0 through which shaft 3I of the fine phase shifter I-1 has; been rotated. The function of the coarse and `medium phasev Shifters is to eliminate any ambiguity in the measurement of the time delay by keeping track of the integral number of revolutions through which shaft 3| has been rotated. The accuracyy with which the time delay may be determined is substantially independent of the accuracies of the medium and coarse phase Shifters. The pulses produced by generator 44 must, however, occur in an interval preceding the trigger pulse from generator 43 not greater than the period of the medium frequency waves, and.` the trigger pulse from generator 43 in like manner must immediately precede the pulse that it is desired to select. from generator 42 by an interval not greater than the period of the waves from source I I.

The time interval selected by the above apparatus is conveniently indicated by a revolution counter 54 driven in synchronism with the phase shifters by means of bevel gear 55 attached to counter input shaft 56 and meshed with gear 26... The counter 54 is generally of conventional design having a units, tens, hundreds, and thousands drum 51, 58, 59 and 6I, respectively, connected together through intermittent gearing so that. a complete turn of one drum or counter Wheel'wll cause a small angular displacement of the adjacent drum on the left. The interconnection betweenr the units and tens counter wheels 51 and 58 and between the tens and hundreds counter Wheels 58 and 59 includes star wheels 62 and 63,y respectively. Star wheels 62 and 63 operate in a conventional manner to couple mutilated gears attached to counter wheels on the right with full-toothed gears fixed to counter Wheels on the left.

The star wheel between the hundreds and thousands drum,A however, is not conventional but is separated into two independent portions 65 and 66. The. left-hand portion 66 is a pinion meshed with the gear attached to drum 6I, while the right-hand portion 65 is a star wheel generally similar to wheels 62r and 63 but narrower by aproximately the width of pinion 66. Star wheel 65 and pinion 66 are connected through the agency of a differential 61. Idler gear 68 couples wheel 65 with one input of differential 61 whose output gear 69 is adapted to drive pinion 66' through idler gears 1I and 12 mounted for joint rotation on a sleeve 13.

Fig. 2 illustrates a cross section of the intermittent gearing included in the coupling between counter wheels 59 and 6I. The star wheel 65 has itsy alternate teeth extending entirely across and.

half way across its width so that the left-hand portion ofthe wheel has a full number of teeth and the right-hand portion half the full number of teeth. The right-hand half of wheel 65 engages a mutilated gear 14 and theleft-hand half engages a mutilated gear 15. The mutilated gear 14 comprises a cylindrical surface which is provided with a recess or notch 19 whose sides coincide with two teeth of the mutilated gear 15, the remainder ofthe latter gear being cut away to its roots circle. Two of the teeth on the right-hand portion of the star wheel 85 normally rest upon the surface of the mutilated gear 14, and prevent the wheel 65 from being turned inadvertently. The relation between the recess 16 and the two teeth of the mutilated gear 15 is such that when counter wheel 59 makes a complete revolution, one of the teeth resting against gear 14 will be allowed to extend into the notch 16 and permit an angular advance of the star wheel 65. The speed ratio between counter wheels. 59 and 6I is such as to effect a tenth of a revolution in the latter for one complete revolution of the former.

The apparatus described in the foregoing with the exception of the differential gear units 39 .and 61 and the split star wheel 85, 66 does not of itself form part of the invention, for, although not as yet well known, apparatus of this general character has been developed prior to the slewing apparatus evolved by the present inventor.

It has been found necessary in practical applications of this timing apparatus to change from one timedelay to a greatly different value in a matter of seconds. would be impossible by manipulating only the fine control knob 24. A coarse control knob 11 is therefore provided fixed to a shaft 18 positioned for convenience concentrically with hollow shaft 25 and extending therethrough to facilitate transfer of manipulation from ne knob 24 to coarse knob 11 and vice versa. Shaft 18 is connected through bevel gears 19 to a second input shaft 8| of the differential gear unit 61, and is also coupled through bevel gears 82, shaft 83 and bevel gears 84 to a second input of .the differential gear unit 39. f

The coupling of the slewing knob 11 to the differential gear units 39 and 61 permits the introduction of large changes in the time delayed signal by actuating the coarse phase shifter I9 independently of the other phase Shifters and concurrently registering the large time delay change on the counter wheel 6I independently of the time delay indicated in accordancewith the position of the fine control knob 24. A detent cam 85 fixed to slewing shaft 18, cooperates with a spring loaded roller 8BV to insure that the delay introduced is equal to an integral multiple of the maximum unambiguous delay obtainable from the medium phase shifter I8. The detent 85 also predetermines the alignment of the numeral selected by drum 6I corresponding to the inserted time delay.

In the mechanical operation of the structure shown in Fig. 1, rotation of the fine knob 24 actuates the counter 54 in synchronism with the phase Shifters I1, I8 and I9. The drum 59, in the act of completing one revolution, drives the drum 6I through the differential 61 whose shaft 8| is locked by the detent 85. Since input shaft 83 of differential 39 is also locked by the same detent, shafts 38 and v4I controlling the coarse phase shifter I9 are in effect connected together.

1t is to be noted that eachtime'. any counting It is evident that this 'I' Y 'speed multiplication afforded by the gearing between it and the fine control knob 24, while the star wheel 65 locksk the. alternate input to the dierential gear unit 61. kThus, counter wheel 6I and the coarse phase shifter I9 are rotated in synchronism and the detent insures that their resting position is predetermined.

For aspecic example and for illustrative purposes only, the frequency of source Il may be 20 kc. and the dividing factors M and N associated with the frequency dividers I2 and I3, respectively, maybe 20 and 5, respectively, with the result that the frequency of the waves passing through medium phase shifter I8 and coarse phase shifter I9 will be l000cycles and 200 cycles respectively. The speed ratio between ne control knob 24 and shafts 3|, 35 and 4I to agree with these conditions will be 1:1, 20:1 and 100:1, respectively. The detent 85 will necessarily provide five equiangularly spaced steps in order that the change of delay introduced by' thegslewing control 11 be equal to some integral multiple period of the waves transmitted by the medium phase shifter I8. This assures that the slewing operation takes place in exact 1000 microsecond steps so that electrical synchronism of the sysf tem is maintained. The total delay time which may be unambiguously measured is 5000 micro'- seconds, since this is the period of the 200 cycle waves assumed to be transmitted by the coarse phase shifter I9.

The thousands drum 6I will, therefore, be marked from 0 to 4 over one-half the circumference and repeated over the other half of the drum, while the other drums will be marked from 0 to 9, evenly spaced around their peripheries. Since a complete revolution of the phase shifter I1 when transmitting 20 kc. corresponds to 50 microseconds, the gears 26 and 55 will be so proportioned that 1/5 of a revolution of shaft 3| or, what amounts to the same thing under the specie fied relationships, 1/5 of a revolutionof knob 24 effects a full revolution of the units drum 51. Thus, it is seen that indicator 54 will indicate directly in decimal parts of a second.

The slewing mechanism disclosed in Fig. 1 makes possible two measurements separatedby the-maximum delay after rotating the coarse control knob 11 no more than 3/5 of a'turn and the fine control knob 24 no more than-10 revolutions. It is evident that the ability to roughly `set the delay greatly facilitates the employment of the system. Y, Referring now to Fig. 3, there is illustrated a positive clutch mechanism which may bevemployed in place of the differential gear unit 61 shown in Fig. 1 associated with the counter 54. An idler gear 9| having a jaw clutch 92 formed integral therewith is freely rotatable on av shaft A93 but restrained from axial movement therefalong by collars 94 and 95 pinned to the shaft 93. Gear 9| normally meshes with star Wheel 65 and 4pinion 66 associated with counter wheels 59 and ,6 I, respectively, discussed with reference to Fig..1.

In ordinary operation, the counter 54 may be actuated by the inne control knob 24 in syn.-

Input shaft 38.01?

hronism'with'the phase Shifters* I1', I8 and I9 and the hundreds drum 59 is free to drive the thousands drum 6i through the agencies of gears 65, 9| and 66. A shaft 96 connected` to the differential 39 through bevel gears 91, shaft 98, bevel gea-'rs 99, shaft IDI, and gears 84 is aligned with shaft 93 and is formed with a sleeve portion |82 adapted toreceive an end of shaft 93. .A. pinv |03 fixed to Shaft 93 cooperates with a groove |04 to permit sliding movement of shaft 93 with l'espect to shaft 96', while coupling their rotational motions. A compressional spring |05 placed withinthe sleeve IBZ' tends to force shafts 93 and 96 apart: The sleeve H12 is terminated by a jaw clutch I UB adapted tov engage clutch 92y when the shaft 93 is forcedtowards the shaft 96 by pushing 'in'- 'coarsel control knob 'I'I mounted on shaft 93'. '5A splined portion |01 cooperates withya splined bushing Hi8 to prevent rotation `of shaft 93'except .when clutch portions 92 and |016 are fully engaged and when gear 9| is slid out of eng-'agement with star wheell 65. The .detent cam 851is fastened to the shaft 96 and permits it to rest/"only at'fequiangularly displaced positions. Thenui'nbe'rs 'of the clutch gearing teeth, the splines and the detent steps are related by a common rm'iltiple,u for example, V5'. 1

The normal operation of the structure of Fig. 3 is' substantially thesame as that of Fig.v 1. If, however," it is desired to alter the time delay in thousand 'microsecond steps, coarse control knob Ti's'pushed in against the pressure" of spring sliding' gear 91 out of mesh with stair wheel 65. `When the clutch portions 92 and IGS are fully engaged and gear 9 I'couples only pinion 66, spline 'I IJ'I is freed from locking engagement with bushing"'IQ8. Knob 'I1 may now be rotated the desired number of detent steps. The thousands lwheel BI andthe coarse phase shifter I9 ,are forced to turn in unison. A shoulder IBS, on `collar 9'4- locks 'the star wheel165 and prevents any manipulation' ofthe fine control knob 24 from 'disturbing the relationship between the counter indication and the angular position of the coarse phase shifter I9. The detent'85 not only insures that the electrical portion of the system is always maintained in synchronism, but also predetermines the meshing of gears 9| with star wheel S5 and spline -Ill'I with bushing |08 when upon'releasing' knob "il, spring |05 returns the 'gear 9| toits normal free running position couplingfnt'he hundreds drum 59 to the thousands drinn 6I. It is -to be observed lthat'the detent 85 need not be strong since-shaft 93 is locked by means of the spline ID'I when the fine control 'knob'is in use.

, The structure of Fig. 3 is preferable to that f'lig; '1" under certain conditions, since only one gear,k gear'l ,loads the counter and therefore 'fnorelibral' mechanical tolerances are permissibl'without the risk that backlash will confuse the reading of the thousands drum 6 I f :Since'many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could 'bemade without departing from the scope theretof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above 'description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

1 vWhat is claimed is:

Dual-speedv transmission and revolution v cgn'inting apparatus comprising a driven member, :connective means having two input couplings for 8, connected to one of said input couplings for gradually positioning said driven member, a slewing member connected to the other of said input couplings for abruptly positioning said driven member independently of said driving member, a `revolution counter having a rst scale actuated in response to said driving member and at least a second scale normally locked and intermittently coupled to said' rst scale, said scales serving to indicate the position of said driven member, and means coordinated with said slewing member included in the coupling between said two scales for introducing a change in the indication of said counter in accordance with the change effected by said slewing member in the position of said driven member.

2. Dual-speed transmission and revolution counting apparatus comprising a driven member, connective means having two input couplings for actuating said driven member, a driving member connected to one of said input couplings for gradually positioning said driven member, a revolution counter having a first scale actuated in response to said driving member and at least a second scale normally locked and intermittently coupled to said'rst scale, said scales serving to indicate the position of said drivenmember, a slewing member, clutch means operable by said slewing member for unlocking said second scale and incapacitating the coupling to said rst scale, and further clutch means operable by said slewing member to couple said slewing lmember to said driven member for abruptly positioning said driving member independently of said driving member and to said second scale for changing the indication of said counter in accordance with the change eiected by said slewing member in the position of said driven member.

3. Dual-speed transmission' and revolution counting apparatus comprising a driven member, a differential gear unit having an output'gear coupled to said driven member and having two input gears, a driving member coupled to one of said linput gears for gradually positioning said drivenA member, a slewing member, a revolution counter having a rst scale actuated in response to said driving member and at least a second scale normally locked and intermittently coupled to said rst scale, said scales serving toindicate the Iposition of said driven member, clutch means for unlocking said second scale and incapacitating the coupling to said rst scale, and further clutch irieanspositively coupling said slewing member "to said driven member and said second scale for changing the indication of said counter in accordance with the change effected by said slewing member' in the position of said driven member.

VL1:. Dual-speed transmission and revolution counting apparatus comprising a driven member, a first differential gear unit having an output gearcoupled to said driven member and having two input gears, a driving member coupled to one of said input gears for gradually positioning said driven member, a revolution counter having a. plurality of intermittently coupled scales, one of said scales being actuatedV in response to said driving member for indicating the position of said driven member, a second diiferential gear unit having two input gears and an output gear, one of said input gears and said output gear being included in the coupling between two of4 said fcounter scales, a slewing member coupled to both the other of said input gears of said di'erential actuating said-driven member, adriving member 75 gear units fory introducing an abrupt change in 9 the position of said driven member and a cor responding change in said counter indication.

5. Dual-speed transmission and revolution counting apparatus comprising a driven member, connective means having two input couplings for actuating said driven member, a driving member connected to one of said input couplings for gradually positioning said driven member, a slewing member connected to the other of said input couplings for abruptly positioning said driven member independently of said driving member, a counter driven in accordance with the position of said driving member, said counter including a plurality of interconnected numbering elements, each provided with a set of numerals 'and movable to select for exhibition a single numeral from each set, the selected numerals constituting a ligure representing the position of said driven member, means coordinated with said slewing member included in the connection between two of said numbering elements for introducing a change in the selected numerals in accordance with'the change effected by said slewing member in the position of said driven member, means being provided to cause the slewing member to move through definite increments of motion, whereby accurate readings of said counter is possible.

6. A transmission and revolution counting mechanism including a driven member, a differential gear unit having an output shaft coupled to said driven member and two input shafts, a fine control shaft coupled to one of said differf disengaging said rst mentioned clutch means while engaging said further clutch means to drive said driven member and said further nurnber wheel from said coarse control shaft independently of said ne control shaft and said irst mentioned number wheel.

ERIC J SBISTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are or" record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,179,358 Heuser Apr. 11, 1916 1,349,049 Crumpton Aug. 10, 1920 1,387,551 Meitner Aug. 16, 1921 1,464,208 Makaro Aug. '7, 1923 2,235,826 Chafee Mar. 25, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 161,848 Great Britain Apr. 21, 1921 235,148 Great Britain June 4, 1924 

